I am back from World Horror Con

Over the past weekend I was visiting the World Horror Convention 2011 in Austin, a place where horror writers from all over the country get together, share ideas, tips, experiences and lots of beer.

I was on a panel on Friday afternoon, carrying the title “Fresh Blood,” during which I had the chance to relay my story as to how I got into writing. It was a nice, lively panel with some great fellow authors, some of which had great stories to tell. I was happy to see a healthy turnout and hope that those of you who had the chance to attend enjoyed the session and got some entertainment value out of it. (I doubt we were really giving advice per se, since we mostly relayed war stories, but you never know.)

There were a couple of fine panels and sessions during the show most of them involved Brian Keene in one way or another. As a matter of fact, Brian was virtually omnipresent at the show, appearing on every other panel while also holding book readings, hanging at the parties and the mass signing, of course. In fact, when, on Thursday night, I arrived at the hotel where the conference was hosted, Keene was still having a panel at 10:30 at night. Talk about a working man here.

Peter Straub was also walking the hallways relentlessly and appeared on panels almost every day of the conference. In the times in between he was talking to other authors and signing books all the time. I had the chance to chat with him myself and enjoyed it greatly. After all, Peter Straub is not only one of the most prolific writers in the horror genre, eclipsed perhaps only by his friend and occasional collaborator Stephen King, but he is what I would call a writer’s writer. He is the example we are all striving for, not only in volume and sales, but also in quality.

But there were many other memorable moments for me, such as my meeting Gene O’Neill, whom I had talked to online a number of times but had never met in person, as well as Gord Rollo. Gord, as you may know, is a writer very much to my taste as his stories — and his interests, as I found out — are usually rooted much more in traditional horror than modern goreware.

I have made many more acquaintances and hopefully new friends during the show and I am very much looking forward to meeting them all again.

The one thing I did notice during the convention, however, was how absent digital technologies were in all the discussions. Practically all writers came from a traditional background and interestingly enough most of them view eBooks as a sideshow — something that may become interesting at some point, but is not at all at the forefront of their minds. Well, with all due respect, I think it is time to put some educational panels together for upcoming writers conferences that explain to writers that the digital revolution has not only arrived but is about to devour the few scraps they are receiving from the traditional publishing houses.

In the meanwhile things have been moving on here as well, of course. I had decided to take a 10 day Internet sabbatical and disappeared almost entirely from social networks for the time being. I also responded to email only in small time windows during the period and did almost no Internet browsing. These things, combined, are such time sinks that I felt I had to turn my back on them to get some work done just before the show. I am glad to say it did work out well and I may have to do it again, more frequently.

The thing is that I spend so much time trying to get my Jason Dark books noticed that on many days I find no time to actually write. I don’t like those days. I love writing and I feel somewhat robbed of the privilege on days where everything else is bogging me down. It is hard however, to simply sit back and ignore the fact that my book sales are small and stagnant and I constantly feel the need to be doing more to increase my books’ visibility. Ultimately, however, it becomes so frustrating when you see that not only time is fleeting away between your fingers in chunks that could choke a T-Rex, but that in many ways it is for naught. Oftentimes all the effort results in a single 99 cent sale and that is clearly a bad value proposition for the time and energy spent.

So, I have decided to fret less and instead write more, and hopefully I will be able to show some results in the not too distant future.

More guest blog posts should be coming up in the next weeks — they have been delayed by the various site operators for reasons beyond my control — but for the time being, check out this cool interview on Geeks of Doom were I had the chance to elaborate on many things regarding my books. I am sure you will find it an interesting read, and perhaps it will even inspire to pick up one of the books. Don’t forget, Curse of Kali is still available for only 99 cents on Amazon and at Barnes&Noble.

In the meanwhile, let me remind everyone also that I do offer eBook formatting as a service, so if you would like to get your manuscript turned into a proper eBook, feel free to contact me for a quote.

That sounds like a great weekend in Austin. But no Joe Hill spottings?? I know he was around there somewhere.

Btw, I really liked your comments on Call My Agent’s blog this past weekend, regarding the horror market. I submitted that question to Sydney last week and was glad to see your response. Not sure I agree with her theory either, as horror movies almost always debut #1 at the box office, which takes men and women to happen.

Also, I’m anxious to check out your books!

Comment by Guido on May 4, 2011 at 2:35 pm

I saw Joe Hill all over the place. Unfortunately he is a bit stand-offish and will never initiate a conversation on his own, so I never talked to him, though at the mass signing he was sitting one table away from me and because he attracted long lines of people, I had the benefit of talking to all the folks waiting in line.